The current procedure for preparing an international package for shipping involves a number of time-consuming steps. First, the shipping label must be generated. The typical minimum amount of information is the destination address and the sender's address. Secondly, some form of US postage must be affixed to the package. This could be conventional stamps, a postage meter strip from a conventional meter, a PVI postage strip issued by a US Post Office, or digital or “Information Based Indicia” postage (sometimes referred to as “PC postage”). Online postage was first described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,319,562 to Whitehouse, filed Aug. 22, 1991. A subsequent patent, U.S. Pat. No. 6,005,945 to Whitehouse, filed Mar. 20, 1997, described an extension of the Online postage concept—a centralized postage system premised on Web or Telephonic Milli-Transactions. Both of these patents are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Thirdly, the US Postal Service, along with the Universal Postal Union (“UPU”) and the World Customs Organization (“WCO”), has historically required a separate and distinct customs declaration form, which must be affixed to the package. One of the simplest customs and declaration forms 10 is the PS 2976 (alternately referred to as the CN22), a representative diagram of which is shown in FIG. 1. The form 10 repeats the sender 20 and recipient 30 address information, and adds details 40 as to the contents of the package including value and classification (Gift, Sample, Documents, Other). The newer forms, shown below, include a 6 digit Harmonization Schedule (“HS”) Number which represents the product using an internationally-established classification system.
A similar form 60, shown in FIG. 2, the PS 2976A (also known as the CP72) is used for certain sub-classes of mail, or when package valuation exceeds $500. The data on the 2976A is virtually the same as that on the 2976, e.g., sender 70 and recipient 80 information and details of contents 90, but there are multiple copies (up to 5) and the format is larger.
These conventional forms are time consuming to complete, and replicate much of the data on the shipping label itself. The forms must be properly matched with the shipping label and postage which, in a high volume shipping environment, can be problematic.
The right hand side of the 2976 (CN22) form 10 is designed to be separated and left at the US Post Office, which inducts the mail. The copy is stored in a manual filing system for 30 days and then discarded. In the case of the 2976A, e.g., form 60, one complete copy of the form 60 is held at the origin Post Office for 30 days. The purpose of this storage is to provide some record of the induction of the mail piece. But the storage protocol is archaic and very inefficient. If information is requested for a given package, the originating Post Office or Station must first be determined, and then a manual search of the hardcopy records must be undertaken by USPS personnel at that Post Office. The information is only retained for 30 days, which in many cases, is a shorter period of time than the overall delivery cycle (particularly in the case of Surface International mail subclasses which are transported by boat).
Accordingly, improved international shipping labels, methods of international shipping, and systems and methods for storing data associated with international shipments are desirable.